Cellulose film



June. 9,` 1931,AA

s. E. sH-E'P'PAR-D ET'AL A CELLULOSE 111ml v Filed Jan. so. 1939 il ,i um? im! s I .VH1-'HHH' muffin .Cellulose ester *Cel-Zuidas @der 'lamina with'grain in one directon. wh giunin arwhzf drecion.

amwzgshepfards@ Jam@ Muang* 2o a distinct grain. The `mecln'misrnof produc'-V tio'n of the lgrain and its explanation are not essential to the carrying outof the inventionenemiga Jane' anni each other substantially appro-aching a right angle. Thus a film material can be prepared rse-ases unirse eraras :ceram orti-'fea 'sA-Mom. n. stampen-D marmo. Manent-Y, ornoonfns'rm, nomi, ,essrenons To nasrrr'eir Konan COMPANY, or Romanen, NEW Yoan, 4a consomation loil' NEW YORK 'entraine-r.'

applicati@ ma mmm-y so, iaao. seria: ne. 424.5,

This invention relates to cellulose ester and ether films and' particularly to an improved film material which reina-ins flat without the tendency to curll or roll.

This application isin part a continu-ation of our application Seri-al Number 336,984, tiled vFebruary 2, 1929.

Cellulose ester vlilm, and especially 'cut Films, are often handled with diiculty because the film rolls easily and will vnot normally remain Hat, this tendency is a r distinct disadvanta e which is not easily overcome. It is the o'- ject of the present invention to provide a novel Afilm material. having a laminat-ed structure which does not curl or roll. Y

Cellulose ester film which has been stretched and dried under tension as de scribed in our now pending application ,Se-l rial No. 338,591, filed February 8, 1929,- has However, by a distinct grain is meant a difference 4.of hysical properties in different directions. *or example, the swelling or expension in water, mechanicals'trength, and

4the flexibility, are such physical properties. Alilm possessing definite grain exhibits -characterisic optical anisotropy or birefringence. It is probable that this grain is due to -a'definit-e orient-ation of molcules or' mi'celles, that is, supermolecular particles, havin 'i one axis longer than the others, vhere y the molecules or mi'celles in the grained condition have their long axes relatively parallel to each other, as compared with the random distribution ina material possessing no grainf or anisotropy. p

AW'e have discovered that .an improved film material can be prepared byl laminating two or more layers of'grained lrn so that the 'grainof the successive layers is transverse to for example by bringingtogether two sheets 'of grained cellulose ester 'films Vsuch as cellu` lose acetate or cellulose nitrate film, and con-4 solidating .the sheets under 1pressure or otherwise so that the grain in on'e sheet 1s disposed tendency tov roll or curl, the tendency In certain applications atan angle'to thejgra-in in 4the 'other sheet.. :The consolidated material', consisting of the two layers autogenously united, Vdispla s nov mg in both lateral directions by the gralnin'g 1n the 'separate lamine'.

While the object of the invjention is aeeomplish'ed by the provision of 'two laminae u nitfv ed iii-1a single s eet, it is possible to build up fil-Ins consisting of more than two layers vby similarly uniting the films with the gmining of each 'successive-sheet disposed at an angley tothe graining of the underlying sheet. lSuch multiply material has Vthe same non-curlV properties fand is ns'eul for rua-ny pur-poses wheres relatively rigid Aand ilat film base is re aired. i

e invention will be .better understood by reference to the .accompanying dra-wingsl in which Fig. 1 is a plan View of a fragment. of the film materialwith one of the layers partial-ly removed to exhibit the underlying layer. and the graining thereof. Fig. 2 is a i' sectional View of the lfilm material and Fig. i 3 is a perspective View illustrating a multi- -ply 'film material containing more than 'two laminas.

Referring to the. drawings, the; characters 5 and 6 indcatejrespectively two layers or, plies of film. The gral-ning is denoted rat v7 and-8. It wll'be .understood that inthe an# tual material-the grainin-g is not-evident upon ordinary observation tand does not 'afect ina; teri'ally thetranspareney of the lm. The illustration is therefore merely diagrammatic to bring out clearly the relationship Vof the grainingjin the separate layers.` v

In Fig. 3 we have illustrated alilmrna'terial comprising separate lay-ers of plies 9, 10, l1, and 12. It lwill be understood that; the grainf ing in layers 9 and 11 extends in one direction; whereas, the graining in layers 1,0 and the graining in layers 9' and 11. In other words, adjacent laminas are loppesi-te in grain- .grainingz 4 The material .as described can be prepared tion, sach as cellulose acetate or 'cellulose 12 extends' in a direction -at'rightnangl-e's to v I es. 'ing and alternate laminas are similar in 2 y 'I Vimsim nitrate. Sulchflms vcanv be pre ered in ac- 'cordence with the usuel proce ure, for example bydissolving a eelllxlose' ester inn suit able solvent such ns acetone with or without jtlie addition of @softener 'or plustier. Such films can be subjected to-trcatnient for the 'purpose of producing u. distinct ,grain therein; for example, by drying the `films under'.

tension from vthe two opposite endsof the lm. The film thus producedcan be cut' into sheets of any desired size and the separate sheets can be then assembled and sub. jected to pressure, for example in o. li dranlic press. .The sheet may be iented i1 desired suflicielntl-y to make the lm sufficiently plnstic` so that :m zxutogenous bond Between the separate lumin is secured. The pressure can be released then. The film material thus produced is a homogeneous Asheet comprisinfr separate lamin with a @raining dxspose in right-angular directions.

`This material may be'prepared also by joining sepa-rate sheets-successively to n -c011- thev acetateand the other lamina, such a's the Y layer 6, from cellulose nit'rate,-the two lamina antogrenous bond and 'convert the single ply web i-'ntou web having two or more laminas. A

Cementing material may or moy not be used.

We have also discovered .that a prodixct havin g useful properties 'will result if .alm base is produced lilwing a, plurality of laminas coin-posed of d'i'erent vcellulose derivatives. For instance, if the Vfilnfiloaise iscornnosed of two lamin', one lamina, such as ayer 5, :may be made 11p from cellulose being united in the manner above set forth. with tliegrain vof one running aten 'angle to the grain of the other. If ginorethan two laminee are employed, alternatelnminae, such oux'fedby eftlie United Stn-tes l 1s: l l 1. A sin-'stzjuiizielly at lefmineted oellulos'e ester film base conjipzisin ist least two lamina having the "rain ofgjone amine eten angle to the' grain. olPthe -edjacerit lamina, one lamina. being composed of .cellulose acetate and the other lam-ina being composed' of cellulose nitrate.'

l2. A .subs'tentially .liet laminated eell-ulose este: l'm base comprising 4a plurality of laminas: consisti ngof--elterna'te sets of lumi-me, the' first alternate set of lam-info oei'ng` eemposed of cellulose neetateend having the grain thereof irri-one ditemi-amend the second altem-:ite set of lamime 'be-infr composed of cellulose 4nitrate and having t'lie gram there-l of atan angle to the 'grain of the first elter-` nate set..v

Signedat Rochester, New York this '23rddny of J armar 1930.

Aimer. E. SHEPPARD,

JAMES G. M'GNALLY.

us t

-xeo l los es 9L vand 11, may be composed of beuuloso l' I acetato with thegrain in .oneff'direetion una other filtern-ete la'min, Such as 10 and 12 'may be composed of 'Cellulose nitrate with the grain at an ang-le to theeoth'er lanuna- The product prepared byeny of the' proleed-ures lier'einbefore Zdescribed is eharacteri istieelly lreefrom tendency to roll orcml.

npr-@vides therefore Aa .suitable bese vfor 4 y light-sensitive emulsions' end mybe utilized for other purposes to 'which it is adapted..

,Various cli-anges may be' made in 'thev de described A"W'ithout departing from the-invention or secreingnny of its 

